Borrowed Life
by carebear969
Summary: "Let's watch the lotuses bloom together," he turned to her, hugging her closer to him. "Even when we're old and grey?" she looked at him with a playful look in her eyes. "Yeah," he whispered in her ear. Two pairs of lovers were both separated by war. One pair was destined to be a tragedy, the other has yet to be written. Non-canon main: Kanda/OC minor: Allen/Lenalee
1. Chapter 1

I'm so sorry to everyone who was following this story, but I'll be re-editing it and therefore deleting most of the chapters. Because my writing has changed over the past three years, I've decided to rewrite "Borrowed Life." It'll still be under the same name and the story line will be similar, but the writing will be much less childish and a little more developed. I really hope those of you who like this story will take the time to give me some criticism, I look forward to reading your reviews!

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><p><em>This place is so beautiful, how could it be an abandoned town?<em> she silently thought to herself as she strolled along the empty streets of Mater. Walking at a leisurely pace, she took in the design of the streets and architecture, admiring the wonderful view on a quiet afternoon. Her aunt had once warned her that this place was haunted, but she still couldn't help but feel drawn to it for some reason.

"_Akira! Don't you dare get any ideas about going to that haunted city; it's been abandoned for thousands of year already."_

"_Yes Auntie._"

"_There's even rumors about a devil that roams the street, killing anything it sees!"_

"_Yes Auntie."_

"_Do NOT go there, or I swear I'll murder you before the devil does."_

"_Yes Auntie."_

Even though she assured her aunt that she wouldn't be a hundred feet within the city, but who cares? Rules were made to be broken. She whistled a small tune while prancing along the streets wondering about the lives of those who used to live there.

_They were probably loaded from the looks of the buildings. Even though it's been years since anyone's lived here, the marble towers and the paved roads definitely were done by some amazing civilization._

She turned down a narrow street to see what lay behind the little two-story buildings. She was amazed at how skillfully planned out everything was.

Up until this moment, she had not seen one living creature, not even an insect. The sun was high in the sky, blazing down on her pale skin. But she couldn't help but feel an eerie chill crawl up her spine when she a crumbled building wall with a hole the size of three people.

_What could've caused that?_

There were pieces of bricks lying all around the place and the gravel was engraved with cracks. She couldn't possibly have known that the accident she witnessed was caused by people, so instead she blamed it on how old the city was.

_Probably just some strong wind. _

Turning down another wide road, she arrived at a stage with circular pillars supporting the audience stand. Each pillar stood ten-stories high with some of them broken in half and others smashed through.

_This is huge!_ She thought with a grin on her face.

_There must have been stunning performances here since there's such a large audience seating. Maybe princes from foreign countries even came here! _

Circling the stage, she was simply awed at how detailed everything was. Even the marble steps had intricate designs carved on them, she had never seen anything like this. It wasn't until she stepped in puddle did she snap out of here trance. Looking down at her feet, she startled at what stained her shoes.

"AH!" She exclaimed. She stumbled backwards a few steps before noticing the figure lying only a few feet away from her. Her heart beat faster and her breath became shorter. Maybe her aunt was actually right, maybe there really _was _a devil who lived here. She ran stepped through the pool of blood, coming closer and closer to the body. When she finally got close enough, she inhaled sharply from what she saw. The sight before her was nauseating.

A boy of similar to age was her was sitting in the pool of blood. He had such a serene look on his face that if it were in any other setting, he would only have been sleeping. He had such a beautiful complexion, as his skin was porcelain colored. His face was breathtakingly beautiful, but oddly it was chipped and broken as well as the rest of his body. Covered in tattered rags, his whole body was striped with black lines which originated from the spot on his chest, right where his heart would be. The lines were curved and long, so long that it covered almost his whole body. As his head was bowed down, his hip-length hair glinted a deep blue under the sunlight with the ends floating in the pool of blood around him. She moved forwards a few more steps to touch the man, just to see if he was still alive. Slowly, she reached out and touched his cheek, only to find that his skin was icy cold; the temperature of a dead person. Her hands were shaking, and so was her body. She put her hands to her mouth as realization struck her.

_He's dead._

She didn't know if it was because of fear or sadness, but she started crying. The droplets from her eyes landed in the blood, causing little ripples of the liquid to spread out. The boy reminded her of the death of her mother. A memory that was still too fresh in her mind.

_She was lying on her bed like every day, staring out the window like she was waiting for someone to come, someone she longed for from the look in her eyes. It was already too late for her, the doctor said. All we could do now was to hope for a peaceful passage. As I saw her struggling to sit upright, it hit me just how vulnerable she was._

"_Akira, please be healthy when I'm gone alright? Don't fret over something like death, it's inevitable, it'll happen to everyone. Even when I'm gone I won't really leave your side. Remember that I love you okay?"_

"_Mom don't leave me please? I don't want to live alone."_

_"Akira, don't cry." She reached behind her neck for the clasp of the necklace. _

"_Whenever you're lonely or sad, just look at this and you'll know you're not alone. Same with the fans your father made for you, they can protect you from evil."_

_She took off her necklace and tried to put it on me. I turned around for her to clasp it, and when she did, she slowly let go. _

"_It's beautiful." She whispered. _

_Those were her last words._

_I thought she was still admiring the beauty of the necklace because she didn't tell me to turn around. But I knew she was gone from the bottom of my heart. I knew I was alone._

Snapping out of her memory, a sword flew from the side of the boy into midair. A strange rust began covering the blade until the whole weapon looked as if it hadn't been touched in a few millennium. Hovering up and down, it suddenly rose even higher to the point where she could no longer see it anymore. Sighing gently, she looked down at her necklace. The green crystal glittered gently in her palm, and she made her decision. Unclasping her necklace, she knelt down on the floor and encircled the silver chain around his neck.

_They're both so beautiful. Only someone with his beauty could possibly outshine the jewel itself. _

Standing back up, she sloshed away from the boy, leaving a trail of blood behind her.


	2. Chapter 2

The boy suddenly coughed causing Akira to freeze in her steps. She believed she most likely misheard, but just to make sure she turned around.

He blinked once, twice, and a few more times to adjust to the lighting. It took so much energy just for him to keep his eyes open. Akira was so stunned at the sight of him all she could do was stare. His skin began knitting together and the lines on his body retracted to the tattoo above his left chest. He coughed a few more times and looked around where he was seated. His memory was hazy as he couldn't remember what caused him to wind up there. Noticing the blood around him, he suddenly realized what had happened and closed his eyes in pain.

He remembered the boy in his arms, the one with eyes which used to curve like a moon when he smiled but also the eyes which showed no emotion when he slaughtered the whole Asian Branch. He screamed. He screamed with such agony that the ground rumbled slightly. His masculine voice tore through the sky as he let out his anger, frustrations, misery, and fear. He was angry at the cruelty of the order, frustrated at how his pitiful life came to be, miserable for what lay ahead of him now that his life was meaningless, and fearful for how he would never see him‒Alma, her‒his love again.

Akira moved to hide behind a pillar in fear that the boy would see her. There should be no reason for her to hide as she was his savior, but she was somewhat horrified at approaching the man as he emanated such a sorrowful sound.

She shivered uncontrollably from fear, and decided to wait until the boy calmed before seeking him out.

He stopped suddenly. His voice hoarse and panting when he saw what was in front of him. The girl, the one his heart ached for held the hand of his only friend and began walking away. This time instead of only seeing her and not being able to hear her, he could hear both Alma's and her voice chorus together.

"_Yuu, I love you. I'll always be next to you, inside your heart._" And they both vanished. Although Alma was consumed by dark matter, Kanda couldn't help but rejoice when he realized his‒no her soul was not lost. Only innocence could relieve an akuma from its sins, but she was somehow saved, and knowing that, Kanda cried.

She was free from the duties of an exorcist, second exorcist, and akuma to arrive in heaven where she belonged. His mindset was finally similar to what the moyashi had a long time ago. He wanted to stop all the tragedies he had to experience. He didn't want others to go through what he had to. He still hated the order and he still hated those who caused him the pain he didn't deserve, but he realized he wanted to stop this war even though the methods the order used was cruel. He needed to go back.

In the midst of thought, he heard slight footsteps walking timidly towards his direction and slightly turned his head. When Akira finally came close enough, she opened her mouth to speak, but then closed it.

"Who are you?" He asked. Only to follow with a round of violent coughs as his voice was dry and hoarse. Akira squatted down next to him and gently patted his back. He noticed how her dress was stained with blood.

"M-my name's Akira." He looked directly into her eyes. She was mesmerized as his deep blue orbs gazed intently at her. They were dark blue, so dark and bold that it reminded her of the color of the ocean. Before when he was hurt, she already found him elegant despite his mangled and bloodied state. Now once his face was smooth and flawless, she was simply breath taken by his beauty.

The exorcist slowly tried to stand by using the pillar as a support, but found himself incapable of doing so.

"Need help?" she asked gently. Without hearing an answer, she slung his arm over her shoulder and slowly helped him up. Treading through the blood and onto the road, she followed the path she came from. Although he tried not to lean on her, she still had a considerable amount of trouble keeping him upright as they stumbled on the road.

"Why did you help me?" he questioned. She turned her head to face him and smiled silently, not caring to stop as they continued walking.

"Thank you." He said almost inaudibly. They continued their walk in silence as he was too tired to talk and she was too shy to speak.

The sun was close to setting when Akira kicked the front door to her cottage open and carried Kanda in.

"Where were you?" Akira's aunt asked without turning around to look. When she didn't hear a reply, she spun around to see her niece in a bloodstained dress carrying a boy who was almost unconscious. She gasped in surprise, but quickly composed herself before helping the boy to the cot. After Kanda lay down, he remembered feeling a hand brush his hair lightly out of his face before fainting from exhaustion.

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><p>Review please! :)<p> 


	3. Chapter 3

After changing out of her dress and bandaging the boy, the aunt sat her niece down.

"Akira, who is this boy?" Akira squirmed in her seat. Seeing the girl's hesitance in answering, her aunt became even more enraged.

"Sakamoto Akira, answer me right now!"

"I don't know! But I'm sure he's not as dangerous as you think." she mumbled embarrassedly.

"You don't know? You _don't_ know?!" her aunt yelled. "You brought a man you _don't know_ back to our house and have the nerve to not feel ashamed? What if he's a serial killer? Or a monster? How do you know he's not dangerous when you found him in a pool of _blood_?!"

It wasn't that the woman didn't want to take care of this boy, but she was already scared enough for her niece's safety, especially since she was the woman's last relative. She stared daggers at her niece while Akira squirmed in her seat. Serves her right to disobey her. Their family was originally from Japan, hence Akira's origin of name. In Edo, Akira's whole family used to be medical practitioners, which was why they were fairly wealthy. But when people in their city began disappearing for no reason, the family started to suspect something. They tried their best to avoid the talk about monsters and brushed them off as wild rumors. But one day when Akira and her aunt came back home from picking herbs, gruesome machines appeared in front of their house and shot Akira's brother and uncle. Since her mother died when she was ten and her father when she was seven, only Akira and her aunt remained. The whole city was dangerous after then, and the only way they survived was by traveling to Italy with a few other broken up families. The journey took them two whole months on sea and carriages to arrive to the town of Troy with barely enough money to buy bread. But Akira's aunt began helping the local pharmacy, which in turn took the two vagrants in and gave them a small house as compensation.

"Oh goodness, he's bleeding so much." Akira's aunt muttered to herself. Because Kanda's wounds were so deep, blood constantly oozed out from the bandages causing a risk for infection. Although Akira witnessed most of his smaller injuries heal, there was still a large one across the middle of his abdomen. It's been one week since he became unconscious. And until now, the only signs which proved that he wasn't dead was his heavy, labored breathing and an occasional whisper that sounded like _'Alma...'._ Although Akira wasn't sure, but she believed that to be the name of the girl she saw that day. She knew what she saw was abnormal as the lady and the child appeared from nowhere and vanished into thin air. She couldn't hear what the lady was saying, but she did hear a soft voice whispering. To Akira, the woman's words sounded indistinguishable, not like any language she's ever heard, but when the long-haired boy stopped his movements and stared intently at the woman, Akira knew only he could understand her.

It was a sunny day when Akira just came back from fetching a pitch of water from the nearby well. Her aunt was working in the pharmacy, which left only her and the unconscious boy at home. After she re-bandaged and took care of his wounds, she went into the kitchen to retrieve more towels. Setting the bowl of warm water with towels near his bed, she sat on the edge of the mattress and began wiping the sweat on his forehead. She couldn't help but admire how beautiful this man was. From the bridge of his nose, his thick eyelashes, to his smooth skin, he was simply flawless. Just as she was about to brush the hair out of his eyes, he gasped gently and fluttered his eyes open.

"Y-you're awake!" He furrowed his brows in confusion. He couldn't remember where he was or why he was there. And he found it even more confusing as to why this girl seemed so familiar.

"D-do you need anything?" He squinted his eyes as the light through the windows were blinding.

"_Water..."_He hoarsely said.

Akira helped him into a sitting position before pouring a cup of water from the nightstand. He swallowed so desperately that he began choking.

"Careful..." Akira lightly patted his back. It was then when he remembered.

"_Who are you?" He asked. Only to follow with a round of violent coughs. Akira squatted down next to him and gently patted his back._

He remembered her touch. And seeing how his wounds were bandaged, he guessed she must have taken care of him.

Akira noticed their closeness and suddenly stood up.

"Did you know how much blood you lost? You were almost dead. In fact, you _were dead._ What did you do to get yourself beaten up so badly? Wait no actually, _who_ was it that did this to you?"

She didn't get a reply.

"Where is this?" he asked. His voice was surprisingly deep but gentle.

"Troy."

They returned to being silent. She was just about to leave when she heard him speak again.

"Kanda." She looked at him questioningly, not understanding what he meant.

"My name is Kanda." He added. She was surprised to hear this. If that were his real name, then that would mean he'd also be Japanese.

"How about your first name?" This time, the boy just turned his head in the other direction, ignoring her question.

"Well, _Kanda._" She emphasized. "Did you also come to take refuge here?"

He nodded slightly. It wasn't necessarily lying that he answered in such a way, because the moyashi did bring him there to hide from the order.

She went into the small kitchen which was connected to the living room Kanda now slept in. And because their house was so small, none of the rooms had any doors to them, which was why Kanda could see her silhouette whilst she was cooking.

With his meal ready, she stepped into the guest room to find Kanda buttoning up the shirt she gave him and about to leave.

"Where do you think you're going?" She blocked his path to the front door.

Only now did she realize how intimidating his height was since she had to crane her neck to look directly into his eyes. They simply stared at each other for what felt like a decade before he broke off the eye contact and sat back down on the makeshift bed.

"Che." He scowled.

In all honestly, Kanda didn't know where he was going either. Neither the order nor any other branch would happily welcome him back with open arms, and just the thought of seeing Komui was distasteful. Once he went back into the war, he most likely wouldn't escape it until it ended or he died.

Akira breathed a sigh of relief seeing that the Japanese boy sat back down. She set the steaming bowl in front of him, "It's okay if you d-don't want stay, b-but at least wait until your wounds are fully healed and then leave." She mumbled shyly, feeling out of her place for ordering him.

He sat seiza on the floor and began eating. He gazed sideways towards the girl as she was still staring at him. Noticing her rudeness, she stumbled back into the kitchen.

Akira peeked slowly from the doorframe. She was staring at him so intently that she began to drool, and it wasn't because of the noodles.

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><p>Review please! I honestly appreciate each and every one of you, whether you leave a comment or not!<p> 


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